AFRICAN PARLIAMENTARIAN COLLOQUIUM ON MULTILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS (MEAs)

1
MAINSTREAMING MULTILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL
AGREEMENTS IN AFRICA

• AFRICAN PARLIAMENTARIAN COLLOQUIUM ON
  MULTILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS (MEAs)
•  
• Theme MEAs in National and Regional
  Development
•  
• Kampala, 6-9 June 2012

2
Presentation Coverage

• Defining mainstreaming and its relevance to MEAs
  implementation
• Rationale for Mainstreaming
• The role of MEAs in sustainable development
• The role of Parliamentarians in MEAs
  implementation
• Approaches to MEAs mainstreaming
• Challenges in mainstreaming MEAs
• Some examples and initiatives in Africa
• Mainstreaming Outcomes
• Conclusions

3
Defining environmental mainstreaming

• Environmental mainstreaming has been defined as
  the informed inclusion of environmental
  considerations into the decisions of institutions
  that drive national, local and sectoral
  development policy, rules, plans, investment and
  action.
• The need for environmental mainstreaming in
  development policy has been motivated by the
  realization that
• The economy and society especially in Africa are
  intimately dependent upon the health of the
  environment
• A large proportion of the wealth of developing
  countries and poor people consists of
  environmental assets

4
Benefits of environmental mainstreaming

• Poor environmental management threatens
  development and complicates poverty reduction
  efforts
• Mainstreaming therefore promises to not only
  minimise risks and problems in the development
  process it should also assist in highlighting
  environmental potentials to enhance sustainable
  development
• Mainstreaming has the potential to facilitate
  incorporation of local beliefs, norms and values
  into national development policy
• Hence it has to be done both at national (such as
  planning and finance ministries), local (where
  daily decisions are made) and sectoral levels
  (government departments, business and other
  stakeholders organizations).

5
Benefits of mainstreaming

• Integrated policy interventions that avoid
  development vs environment arguments
• More efficient planning of environmental assets
  and environmental hazard management
• Support technological innovation that is inspired
  and informed by nature
• Informed debates on policy formulation on big
  issues
• Improve productivity, resilience and adaptability
  of social and economic systems

6
MEAs and the Environment

• Multilateral environmental agreements refer to a
  number of legally binding international
  instruments which states use to achieve specific
  environmental goals. MEAs are therefore primarily
  environmental instruments.
• According to UNEP there are over 500 conventions
  related to environment over 320 of these are
  regional and a majority have been adopted after
  the 1972 Stockholm Conference on Environment and
  Development
• It is possible to categorize MEAs into three
  groups core environmental conventions global
  conventions relevant to the environment,
  including regional ones and others restricted by
  scope and geography
• We are here more concerned with core
  environmental conventions, though regional
  environmental conventions applicable to Africa
  are a key part of this discussion.

7
MEAs and the Environment

• In terms of subject matter MEAs may be divided
  into the following categories
• Biodiversity related conventions such as the CBD
  and its protocols, and the ITPGRFA,
• The atmosphere conventions such as the UNFCCC,
  the Ozone Convention and the Protocols
  thereunder,
• The land conventions such as the UNCCD,
• The chemicals and hazardous wastes conventions
  such as the Basle, Bamako, Stockholm conventions
  and the POPs
• Regional seas conventions covering the
  Mediterranean, Kuwait, West and Central Africa,
  East Africa

8
MEAs Objectives and Priorities

• The three Rio Conventions (UNFCCC, CBD and the
  UNCCD) are widely considered core sustainable
  development MEAs
• The rest generally address sustainable
  utilization of natural resources and the
  environment or the protection of the environment
  to ensure its sustainability
• MEAs provide a number of advantages for parties
  that are important for national development.
• These include strengthening capacity of parties
  to meet their obligations through technical and
  financial support strengthening scientific basis
  for decision making and strengthening
  international cooperation.

9
MEAs Benefits/Advantages

• Protecting public health
• Improving governance
• International comity and respect, and solidarity
• Financial and technical assistance
• Facilitating long term economic benefits
  sustainable development
• Facilitating trade
• Facilitating changes in domestic environmental
  law by elevating the importance of an issue

10
Approaches to MEAs mainstreaming

• Greater participation and interaction between
  environment and development stakeholders. Agenda
  21 has provided significant impetus to public and
  community mobilization
• Integrated environment-development policy and
  associated political will/leadership
• Inclusion of environment-development linkages in
  national and sector plans the NAPAs, NEAPs,
  NBSPs and NSSDs have drawn considerably from MEAs
  processes to inform national actions

11
Approaches to MEAs mainstreaming

• Inclusion of environment-development linkages in
  budgets and fiscal instruments,
• Improved domestic and foreign resource
  mobilization for environmental investments
• Sustained behavioral change by individuals,
  institutions and society in both private and
  public domain
• Production, consumption and waste management in
  sectors and localities are informed by
  environmental considerations

12
General principles of environmental mainstreaming

• Leadership, focusing on mobilization of political
  will, engaging with champions
• Integration, strengthening the development-environ
  ment interface
• Focusing on key sectors, especially the economic
  sectors
• Strengthening dialogue and ownership
• Subsidiarity making sure decisions are made at
  the lowest level where change is expected
• Utilize upstream processes, existing
  analytical/planning processes
• Transparency and accountability, information on
  issues, decisions made and reasons
• Environmental sustainability the process should
  take into account major environmental processes,
  potentials, stresses and limits

13
Steps in mainstreaming

• Review the political economy and governance
  framework affecting development and environment
• Convene a multi-stakeholders group to steer the
  mainstreaming process
• Identify links between environment and
  development
• Propose desirable environment and development
  outcomes
• Map institutional roles and responsibilities for
  each of the links and desirable outcomes
• Identify entry points for environmental
  manistreaming in decision making process

14
Overcoming sectoral barriers

• A key challenge for mainstreaming is how to
  create incentives for non environment
  groups/stakeholders to respond positively
• This may require use of language that is not too
  environment specific and aligning positive
  arguments to those groups own goals and
  aspirations.
• The following may be used to incentivize various
  stakeholders

15
Steps in mainstreaming

• Conduct expenditure review and make business case
  for environmental mainstreaming
• Establish or use existing forum for debates and
  consensus building
• Reflect agreed changes in key mainstream policy,
  plan and budget documentation
• Promote key investments in environment-development
  links
• Develop integrated institutional systems and
  associated capacities
• Establish key indicators and criteria and
  accountability mechanisms to facilitate
  monitoring and continuous improvement

16
Challenges to MEAs mainstreaming

• The prevailing development paradigm which treats
  environment as an institutional and economic
  externality.
• Lack of data, information, skills and
  institutional capacity to address
  environment-development linkage
• Inadequate precedent in environmental
  mainstreaming to guide policy development
• Limited political will to go the extra mile in
  the development pathway

17
Overcoming sector barriers

• Developing a green low carbon
• Improving country resilience
• Securing environmental foundations for
  development
• Improving cross sector environmental benefits and
  reducing costs
• Focusing on a hybrid outcome, not a one way
  environment into development outcome
• Reversing the downward spiral of environment and
  poverty
• Integrating poor peoples environmental needs
  and
• Policies for better environmental governance

18
Drivers of environmental mainstreaming

• Increasing stakeholders awareness and demands
• National policies and legislation
• Values of progressive organizations
• Donor conditions and initiatives
• International commitments
• Major environmental events, such as disasters

19
Some mainstreaming examples in Africa

• Promoting effective environmental mainstreaming
  through national learning groups in Tanzania and
  Zambia
• Effective mainstreaming using strategic
  environmental assessment greening poverty
  reduction strategies in Benin
• Effective mainstreaming at municipal level Open
  space planning and integrated metropolitan
  environmental policy Durban, and Cape Town
  South Africa respectively
• Promoting mainstreaming through overarching
  policy instruments in Malawi Environment,
  natural resources and climate change made policy
  priorities in the Malawi Growth and Development
  Strategy Malawis PRSP equivalent

20
Environmental mainstreaming outcomes

• Government departments, sector departments and
  aid agencies assume environmental
  responsibilities and routinely address
  environmental issues, by factoring them into
  their decisions
• Environmental departments/agencies focus on
  coordination, advisory and monitoring functions
• There are a number of specific outcomes to be
  promoted they include

21
Mainstreaming outcomes

• Participation and democratic process outcomes,
  expanding space for stakeholder participation and
  understanding of the importance of environment to
  the development process incorporating MEAs such
  as Principle 10 of Agenda 21 and related
• Policy and political outcomes specifying
  macro-economic, fiscal, social and development
  policy, constitutions, and statements of national
  visions incorporate environmental considerations
  incorporating MDGs and MEAs such as UNFCCC, CBD

22
Mainstreaming outcomes

• Planning outcomes including environment
  development linkages in national development and
  poverty reduction strategies sector and
  implementation strategies taking into account
  MEAs such as UNFCCC (NAPAs), CBD (NBSAPs) NEAPs
  and NSSD from UNCED
• Budget outcomes environment and development
  linkages reflected in national and sector
  budgets and fiscal instruments informed by
  environment-development linkages incorporating
  UNFCCC (carbon taxation), Vienna Convention on
  the Ozone Layer (phase out ozone depleting
  substances)

23
Mainstreaming outcomes

• Institutional and capacity outcomes
• Skills, mandates and resources available for
  mainstreaming
• Finance, planning and environment departments
  have capacity to integrate environment-development
  linkages in budget decision making
• Systemic links between institutions to facilitate
  flow of information and ideas
• Environment-development criteria are recognized
  as cross cutting norms for planning and
  monitoring purposes
• Agenda 21, UNFCCC,

24
Investment Outcomes

• Investment outcomes including improved domestic
  and international resource mobilization for
  environment-development investment and a
  coherent set of incentives and disincentives to
  facilitate behavioural change Agenda 21, CBD
• Behavioural outcomes environment is considered a
  normal, accepted and expected part of doing
  business on part of individuals, institutions and
  society both in private and public sectors
  processes of production, consumption and waste
  management are informed by environmental
  considerations and the media and public interest
  bodies regularly address environmental issues
  Agenda 21, Basle, Bamako and Stockholm
  Conventions Montreal Protocol on Ozone Layer
  etc and
• Overall developmental outcomes improved
  productivity and sustainability of use of
  environmental assets better management of
  environmental hazards better access to
  environmental and natural resources UNFCCC, CBD
  and its Nagoya and Cartagena protocols